The present invention relates generally to audio and video conferencing services, and more particularly to coupling home/small business network-based devices using Internet Protocol (IP) techniques to provide audio and/or video conferencing services using a wide area network-based intelligent service controller.
Numerous home/small business network-based devices are available. For example, an IP telephone, a personal computer, a digital camera, a digital videodisc (DVD), a television, and the like. Audio and video may be managed by such devices in many ways and may be used for video conferencing. However, the IP network, especially, the public Internet is lossy and does not provide any guarantee of delay and delay jitter. The IP network also provides no cost-effective, scalable mechanisms that will guarantee the quality of audio and video over the IP network, especially in the wide-area networking environment since it is very difficult to meet the stringent inter-media synchronization requirements between audio and video in the IP/Internet. Thus, when a plurality of home network devices are coupled, the resulting home networking system may be lossy, may not provide a guarantee of delay and delay jitter, may not be cost-effective, may have varying quality of audio and/or video due to scalability problems, and may not meet inter-media synchronization requirements between audio and video in the IP/Internet. Generally, audio and still images are not readily shared within the home networking system.
There is a need for a home networking system that integrates a plurality of home/small business devices for audio and video to provide efficient audio and video conferencing services that includes asynchronous transfer of audio and still images.
The present invention provides a method and audio-video conferencing system for efficient audio-video conferencing utilizing a Home Network system with a controller and having home audio and video devices coupled by IEEE 1394 standard compliant connections in one of: point-to-point and multipoint arrangement. The method includes the steps of: issuing, by a Residential Gateway, an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; determining, by the controller of the Home Network, whether any home device is sending signaling/data in any asynchronous time slots successfully; where no signaling/data is being sent, sending, by the controller, the traffic of the synchronous devices to indicated destinations; determining, by the controller whether the handling of traffic is complete; where handling of traffic is incomplete, returning, by the controller, to handling the traffic of synchronous devices to indicated destinations; where handling of traffic is complete, returning, by the controller, to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot, determining, by the controller, whether there is a request for audio-video conferencing; if audio-video conferencing is not being requested, sending, by the controller, the traffic of the asynchronous devices to the indicated destinations; determining, by the controller, whether traffic handling is complete; where handling of traffic is incomplete, returning, by the controller, to handling the traffic of asynchronous devices to the indicated destinations; where handling of traffic is complete, returning, by the controller, to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; where there is a request for audio-video conferencing, allocating, by the controller, an asynchronous channel to the device user and setting up an audio-video conferencing session with the Home Network device user to determine which device is to be used for incoming and outgoing bit streams/channels of each medium in accordance with a predetermined scheme; registering, by the controller, details of the audio-video conferencing session to the network service controller (NSC) by the Residential Gateway; and setting up, by the controller, the audio-video conferencing session/call. Setting up, by the controller the audio-video conferencing session generally includes the steps of: consulting, by the controller, profiles of a calling party and called parties in a profile database; sending a reply back to the Residential Gateway; sending, by the Residential Gateway, the reply to a calling user indicating whether the session/call may be made or not depending on requirements set by the calling user as well as by the called parties registered in the profile database; if a call request is confirmed by the controller, sending, by the calling party, a setup message to the controller; upon receiving the setup message, contacting, by the controller, the called parties, and where the call/session is multipoint, contacting, by the controller, a multipoint controller; if preferred home devices in the Home Network of the called parties for audio and video conferencing are not known from the profile database, setting up, by the controller, a negotiation with respective Residential Gateways of the called parties to obtain addresses of the home devices; using, by the controller, addresses of the home devices of the called parties to set up the session/call; sending confirmation by the called parties with a connect message; sending, by the controller, a call confirmation message back to the calling party; setting up, by the controller, a request for a media channel connection based on an optimum path.. Requirements typically include performance parameters such as bandwidth.
The method may also be described as a method for integrating a plurality of home/small business devices for audio and video to provide efficient audio and video conferencing that includes asynchronous transfer of audio and video images wherein a Residential Gateway/Gateways coupled to a Home Network that is coupled to the home/small business devices and a controller coupled to an access/wide-area network that is coupled to the residential gateway/gateways work cooperatively to assure that the plurality of home/small business devices operate as if a single virtual integrated device is being used to set up audio-video conferencing. In this embodiment, the method includes the steps of sending, by a first residential gateway 1 (RG1), an Admission Request signal to the controller; forwarding, by the controller, the first Admission Request signal to the Server; sending, by the Server, a first Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; forwarding the first Admission Confirmed signal to the RG1; sending, by the RG1 a first Setup signal to the controller; sending, by the controller, a first Connect signal to a second residential gateway RG2; sending, by the RG2, a second Admission Request signal to the controller; forwarding, by the controller, the second Admission Request signal to the Server; sending, by the Server, a second Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; forwarding, by the controller, the second Admission Confirmed signal to the RG2; sending, by the RG2, a second Setup signal to the controller; sending, by the controller, a second Connect signal to a third residential gateway RG3; sending, by the RG3, the second Connect signal to the controller; sending, by the controller, the second Connect signal to the RG3; sending, by the RG3, a third Admission Request signal to the controller; forwarding, by the controller, the third Admission Request to the Server; sending, by the Server, a third Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; forwarding, by the controller, the third Admission Confirmed signal to the RG3; sending, by the RG3, a third Setup signal, to the controller; sending, by the controller, a third Connect signal to the RG3 prior to media channel negotiations, connection setup and actual media transfer.
In another embodiment, the method of the present invention may be described as a method for efficient audio-video conferencing utilizing a Home Network system with a controller and having home audio and video devices coupled by IEEE 1394 standard compliant connections in one of: point-to-point and multipoint arrangement. In this embodiment, the method includes the steps of: issuing, by a Residential Gateway, an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; handling, by the controller, where home device/devices fail to be sending signaling/data in any asynchronous time slots successfully, traffic of synchronous home devices until the traffic is complete and returning to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; handling, by the controller, where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot and where audio-video conferencing fails to be requested, the traffic of the asynchronous home device/devices until the traffic is complete and returning to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; and allocating, by the controller, an asynchronous channel and home devices for, registering details of, and setting up an audio-video conferencing session, where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot and where audio-video conferencing has been requested. Setting up, by the controller, may be accomplished as described above.
The present invention provides an audio-video conferencing system for efficient audio-video conferencing utilizing a Home Network system with a controller and having home audio and video devices coupled by IEEE 1394 standard compliant connections in one of: point-to-point and multipoint arrangement. The conferencing system includes: a Residential Gateway which is coupled to the Home Network system with home devices, and is used for issuing an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; and the controller which is coupled to an access/wide-area network and the Residential Gateway and is used for: determining whether any home device is sending signaling/data in any asynchronous time slots successfully; where no signaling/data is being sent, sending, by the controller, the traffic of the synchronous devices to indicated destinations; determining whether the handling of traffic is complete; where handling of traffic is incomplete, returning to handling the traffic of synchronous devices to indicated destinations; where handling of traffic is complete, returning to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot, determining whether there is a request for audio-video conferencing; if audio-video conferencing is not being requested, sending the traffic of the asynchronous devices to the indicated destinations; determining whether traffic handling is complete; where handling of traffic is incomplete, returning to handling the traffic of asynchronous devices to the indicated destinations; where handling of traffic is complete, returning, to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; where there is a request for audio-video conferencing, allocating an asynchronous channel to the device user and setting up an audio-video conferencing session with the Home Network device user to determine which device is to be used for incoming and outgoing bit streams/channels of each medium in accordance with a predetermined scheme; registering details of the audio-video conferencing session to the NSC by the Residential Gateway; and setting up the audio-video conferencing session/call. The controller sets up the audio-video conferencing session as described above. The requirements include performance parameters such as bandwidth.
An audio-video conferencing system in accordance with the present invention may also be described as an audio-video conferencing system for integrating a plurality of home/small business devices for audio and video to provide efficient audio and video conferencing that includes asynchronous transfer of audio and video images wherein a Residential Gateway/Gateways coupled to a Home Network that is coupled to the home/small business devices and a controller coupled to an access/wide-area network that is coupled to the residential gateway/gateways work cooperatively to assure that the plurality of home/small business devices operate as if a single virtual integrated device is being used to set up audio-video conferencing. The audio-video conferencing system includes: at least a first residential gateway (RG1), a second residential gateway (RG2), and a third residential gateway (RG3), each coupled/arranged to transceive signals with a plurality of Home Network-based audio devices and video devices and with the controller, for sending an Admission Request signal to the controller; the controller, arranged to transceive signals with at least the RG1, a second residential gateway RG2, a third residentialgatewayRG3, and a Server for forwarding the first Admission Request signal to the Server; the Server, arranged to transceive signals with the controller, for sending a first Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; wherein the controller forwards the first Admission Confirmed signal to the RG1 ;the RG1 sends a first Setup signal to the controller; the controller sends a first Connect signal to the RG2; the RG2 sends a second Admission Request signal to the controller; the controller forwards the second Admission Request signal to the Server; the Server sends a second Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; the controller forwards the second Admission Confirmed signal to the RG2; the RG2 sends a second Setup signal to the controller; the controller sends a second Connect signal to the RG3; the RG3 sends the second Connect signal to the controller; the controller sends the second Connect signal to the RG3; the RG3 sends a third Admission Request signal to the controller; the controller forwards the third Admission Request to the Server; the Server sends a third Admission Confirmed signal to the controller; the controller forwards the third Admission Confirmed signal to the RG3; the RG3 sends a third Setup signal, to the controller; and the controller sends a third Connect signal to the RG3 prior to media channel negotiations, connection setup and actual media transfer.
In another embodiment, the audio-video conferencing system of the present invention may be described as an audio-video conferencing system for efficient audio-video conferencing utilizing a Home Network system with home devices, where the conferencing system has a controller and home audio and video devices that are coupled by IEEE 1394 standard compliant connections in one of: point-to-point and multipoint arrangement. The audio-video system includes: a Residential Gateway arranged to transceive signals with the Home Network System, home devices and an access/wide-area network with a controller, for issuing, an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; the controller, arranged to transceive signals with the access/wide-area network, for: where home device/devices fail to be sending signaling/data in any asynchronous time slots successfully, traffic of synchronous home devices until the traffic is complete and returning to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; handling, where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot and where audio-video conferencing fails to be requested, the traffic of the asynchronous home device/devices until the traffic is complete and returning to having the Residential Gateway issue an IEEE-1394 frame consisting of synchronous and asynchronous time slots; and allocating an asynchronous channel and home devices for, registering details of, and setting up an audio-video conferencing session, where a home device is sending signaling/data in an asynchronous time slot and where audio-video conferencing has been requested. The controller sets up the audio-video conferencing session as described above.